Hi,

Im having trouble turning down wind and need some advice pls!

I can turn up wind fine, but when I tilt the rig forward to head down wind Im finding the board doesnt want to bear away and my body weight is 100% on my forward leg, leaving me over balanced and prone to falling off forwards, when hit by a gust.

Ive tried moving the mast foot forward and back and its still happening, I cant seem to crack it?

Any idea where im going wrong?

Thanks,

Squids

Lean back.

Tilt sail forwards and to windward.

Hang on as you reach warp speed

Edit: Ahh mk you beat me to it

What the? You cannot gybe in the harness, check out Guy Cribbs site or similar video and you will get it straight away.

Yes unhook before you bear away otherwise as a relatively early harness user you will get pulled over the front.

More experienced trying to say get planing carve gybes bear off, step out of strap or unhook whichever order you prefer, initiate carve and the rest.

check out youtube

unhook before entering hte manouver

if its a longboard adn you arent moving fast then angle the saill to windawrd as you head off...tilting it forard will do nothing if you are 180 off the wind

if you are moving a long at say 7 knots of over then you can start using foot positioning....leen to leeward to turn downwind

Squid,

not sure if it is long or short board.

For a short board the trick to me seems to attack the run off the wind gently.

Move weight forward and sheet out with the back hand, tilt mast forwards gently, feather the power back in the sail, get comfortable and repeat. - Keep winding up the speed - when you think there is no power in the sail - you are probably milking it for as much speed as you can.

If you keep rounding up into the wind look at the size of the fin you are running and also the rake of the fin. Pointer fins do just that - point and some don't like running at 100+degrees off the wind. I'm I bog rap for the C3 Venoms that point really well and also run off the wind really well.


If you have the catapault feeling - try raising boom height and moving harness lines back. Longer harness lines can also help - especially with wider boards.

N.B at times - especially when overpowered I have some trouble with the board 'sliding out under the ast base during gybe', not going down wind - this is usually a problem with me no putting enough weight and pressure on the leeward rail to get the board to turn. - Oh an Mk7 is right on his gybe tips.

- J

i'd raise your boom up a few inches (to around chin height) . that will help you get more leverage and load up the mast foot.

p.s. if it is a longboard and the centreboard is down weighting the windward rail will make the board turn downwind.

Squidlips, what's the plank ??

Squid,

Learn to use the harness first. Makes sailing more fun and less fatigue in the arms.

Gybing a long board - can be a challenge - you should almost be able to pivot gybe that board standing on the tail.

From memory you will need to be a fair way back on the board to get them to turn off the wind. Have to admit to very rusty memory here as it was 1984 when I last rode a board that size.

J

Wave gear can be tuned on flat water ......gybe flat out on smoth water,feeling the board push it and slide and flex the fins.Also do carving 360 s with slide ,the feel will be similar on your bottom turn.

Now you just got to power up the face ..... slap/wack /and jam it off the top.

i'm a little confused here.

are we talking gybing the longboard or steering downwind?

steering downwind while planing with the centreboard up will mean the mast is towards the back of the track. (In lighter winds you may have half of the cb down and the mast will be more forward to balance things.)

the KEY is to swing your body forward at the hips while driving through the front foot "on the rail of the board" while pushing your front hand towards the nose of the board. it takes a while for a longboard to turn as there is a lot of rail in the water.

something to practice. - while sailing across the wind you can sail the board into the wind and off the wind by just switching your weight from front foot to back foot. (remember to keep the rig parallel to your shoulders and get your feet out on the rail.

getting catapulted when bearing off could be because you aren't bending at your knees. guy crib calls it monkey monkey???? i think..

gybing the longboard there are 2 main options.

1. flare gybe. - you need to have your centreboard down for this. although it can be done without the cb down it is harder and you must be more agressive by jumping back onto the tail of the board and sinking it hard.

2. carve gybe. - i usually moved my track forward after the gybe while in the clew first position before the run back up to the top mark. if you are sailing it like a shortboard then you won't need to move the mast track but a clew first exit will help keep the speed up.

ultimately you need to hang off the rig and get your feet out onto the rail. i would also recomend a harness. to get a longboard off the wind in 15-20 knots without a harness takes some physical effort. also. high boom or you will round up consistantly. in my experience formula and longboard technique is very similar.

hope this helps.

NotWal said...

You can't weight your FRONT foot. That will just have you carving up wind.
If you are weighting your front foot while tilting the rig forward you have foot steering fighting rig steering.

Weight your booms and footsteer down wind with your back foot

it's a longboard notwal.

weighting the front foot means pushing it away from you or driving through the front leg. not pushing down on the rail. helps get the nose off the wind.

Cracked it!!

I raised the boom, leant further back whilst leaning the rig forward and drove through the front foot - the board turned easy!!

I spent most of saturday practicing and ended up using the technique to accellerate through the squalls (by heading slightly down wind when they hit) then carve upwind after getting more speed up.

Thanks for all your advice - I had a great session because of it !!!